Ram Nath Kovind - 14th President of India

President-elect Ram Nath Kovind today became the 14th President of India, at a ceremony held in the Central Hall of Parliament. Kovind was administered oath by Chief Justice of India JS Khehar.

The 71-year-old former Governor of Bihar is the second Dalit president after KR Narayanan. He is the first President to have been a member of the BJP and its ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

President-elect Ram Nath Kovind began the day with a visit to Rajghat to pay his respect to Mahatma Gandhi, before heading to Rashtrapati Bhavan, where he was received by President Pranab Mukherjee.

Pranab Mukherjee had accompanied the new President to Parliament this morning from the Rashtrapati Bhavan. They were greeted there by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President Hamid Ansari.

After taking oath, Kovind exchanged seats with current president Pranab Mukherjee. A 21-gun salute was also fired in honor of the new president.

In his first address after swearing-in, Kovind said he is proud to follow the footsteps of former eminent Presidents like Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Dr. S Radhakrishnan and Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.

"I accept the position with humility and am grateful for the responsibility," Kovind said in his first tweet on the official president ..

Ram Nath Kovind, who was the former Governor of Bihar won the 2017 presidential election against opposition candidate Meira Kumar, the former Speaker of the Lok Sabha. Mr Kovind got 65.65 per cent of the total votes which totalled 702,044 electoral college votes. Ram Nath Kovind is the 14th President of India.

Kovind, who served as the 35th Governor of Bihar was born on October 1, 1945 in Paraukh village in the Kanpur Dehat district, Uttar Pradesh. Kovind did his graduation in law from a Kanpur college.

Kovind completed his school education in Kanpur and obtained the degrees of B.Com and L.L.B. from Kanpur University. In 1971, he enrolled as an Advocate with the Bar Council of Delhi.

Kovind was Union Government Advocate in the Delhi High Court from 1977 to 1979 and Union Government Standing Counsel in the Supreme Court from 1980 to 1993. He became Advocate-on-Record of the Supreme Court of India in 1978. He practised at the Delhi High Court and Supreme Court for 16 years till 1993.

Parliamentary and Public Life

Kovind was elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha from Uttar Pradesh in April 1994. He served for two consecutive terms of six years each till March 2006. Shri Kovind served on various Parliamentary Committees like Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Scheduled Castes/Tribes; Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs; Parliamentary Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas; Parliamentary Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment; and Parliamentary Committee on Law and Justice. He was Chairman of the Rajya Sabha House Committee.

Kovind also served as Member of the Board of Management of the Dr B.R Ambedkar University, Lucknow, and Member of the Board of Governors of the Indian Institute of Management, Kolkata. He was part of the Indian delegation at the United Nations and addressed the United Nations General Assembly in October 2002.

Positions Held

2015-17: Governor of Bihar

1994-2006: Member of the Rajya Sabha, representing the state of Uttar Pradesh

1971-75 and 1981: General Secretary, Akhil Bharatiya Koli Samaj

1977-79: Union Government Advocate at the Delhi High Court

1982-84: Union Government Junior Counsel in the Supreme Court

Personal Details

Kovind married Smt Savita Kovind on May 30, 1974. They have a son, Shri Prashant Kumar, and a daughter, Miss Swati. An avid reader, the President has keen interest in reading books on politics and social change, law and history, and religion.

During his long public career, Kovind has travelled widely across the country. He has also visited Thailand, Nepal, Pakistan, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom and the United States in his capacity as a Member of Parliament.